JP2007302419A - Automatic out-of-system discharge and supply transport system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To store a product in a temporary storage automatic warehouse without stopping the operation of the upstream line when a failure occurs, and to take out the product from the automatic warehouse and supply it to the final packing line when the failure is recovered. Providing a system for automatically discharging and supplying packaged products.
SOLUTION: At least a discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10, a product transfer mechanism 20, a tray holding / replacement / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30, and a tray transfer mechanism 40 are provided, and are banded products or pillow-wrapped. When the product is placed on the supply belt conveyor 11 and sent to the downstream packing line, if the packing line is faulty and stopped or stopped, the upstream process line is not stopped and sent. Automatic out-of-system discharge that temporarily stocks the product on the supply belt conveyor outside the line system, and automatic out-of-system discharge that returns the temporarily stocked product to the supply belt conveyor and supplies it to the downstream packing line. Supply conveyance system.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic out-of-system discharge and out-of-line for temporarily stocking products sent to the final packing line in the form of a band product or a pillow package in which a plurality of tablet sheets of pharmaceuticals are bundled into an automatic warehouse. The present invention relates to an automatic out-of-system discharge / supply conveyance system that supplies products temporarily stocked to the final packaging line.

  Conventionally, when the most downstream final packing line is stopped due to some trouble, there is a problem that the line up to the upstream product manufacturing process has to be stopped in a state where the buffer of the product supply conveyor is full. Such a failure was a big problem that lowered the overall operation rate. In order to avoid this upstream line stoppage, the flowing product was manually removed from the conveyor, temporarily arranged in a container, and transferred to a temporary storage warehouse.

  However, manual removal, container accumulation, container stacking, and transfer may cause stress such as load on the product itself, and there is a risk that dust and foreign matter in the manufacturing site may be mixed before storage.

  After all, the arrangement of take-out workers to cope with the flow of products and the arrangement of supply workers to the belt conveyor after the line restoration had a problem of excessive labor.

  Conventionally, Patent Document 1 has been proposed regarding a control and transfer system including a transfer system including an apparatus for transferring a process and a storage system that temporarily stores and stores in an automatic warehouse. Patent Document 1 is an invention for controlling a transfer device so that a semiconductor wafer is delivered by a time required by the processing device when the semiconductor wafer is transferred from a temporary storage automatic warehouse to the processing device.

JP 2003-34388 A (2nd, 3rd page, FIG. 1)

  The present invention is arranged at the entrance of the final packing line of a product in a banded state in which a plurality of tablet sheets of pharmaceuticals are bundled or a product packaged with pillows, and when a failure occurs, the product can be operated without stopping the operation of the upstream line. Automatic storage and transportation of banded products or pillow-packed products that are stored in a temporary storage automated warehouse and delivered from the automated warehouse to the final packaging line when the failure of the final packaging line is recovered The problem is to provide a system.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the automatic outside discharge / supply conveyance system according to the present invention is configured such that a product in a banded state in which a plurality of PTP sheets are bundled or a product in a pillow package is placed on a supply belt conveyor and placed on a downstream packing line. If the packing line is faulty and stopped when it is being sent, or if it is stopped, the upstream process line is not stopped and the product on the supply belt conveyor sent is temporarily lined. Automatic out-of-system discharge stocked outside the system, and automatic out-of-system discharge / supply transport system that returns the temporarily stocked product outside the line system to the supply belt conveyor and supplies the product to the downstream packing line. There,
In order to align a plurality of P product rows being conveyed on the supply belt conveyor with a predetermined pitch length, it is arranged from the conveyor end with the pitch length that can be moved up and down by an electronic control signal from the lower side of the belt conveyor. P stopper plates and control signal input terminals;
A first product that receives a signal from a stop detection sensor or a stop button signal of the downstream packing line, sends an ON signal to the input terminal of the first stopper plate close to the end of the belt conveyor, and causes the first stopper plate to protrude. An ON signal is sequentially sent from the second stopper plate to the Pth stopper plate at the timing of each detection sensor so that one product is inserted between the stop means and each stopper plate, and protrudes to the Pth stopper plate. A control unit comprising at least P product stop means;
A discharge product alignment stopper mechanism comprising:
A product storage tray for storing products to be discharged from the supply belt conveyor in m rows and n columns, the column interval pitch being the same as the predetermined pitch length, and providing mxn product storage pockets;
N sets of air suction ports for simultaneously drawing out a plurality of n (n = <P) aligned products by air suction and a discharge arm provided with a gripping mechanism;
A discharge arm moving mechanism that is supported by a rotating shaft that moves and rotates the discharge arm and moves to a predetermined position by electronic control;
N products are simultaneously sucked into n sets of air suction ports of the discharge arm, taken out from the conveyor, and the arms are moved to the n storage pockets in the first row of the product storage tray by the moving mechanism. A control unit including at least pocket storing means for storing m × n pieces of means for dropping and inserting the product m times up to the m-th row;
A product transfer mechanism comprising:
A center rotation shaft, two support levers that slide up and down at one end of a groove formed along the axial direction, and the product at the other end of the support lever. First and second holding platforms in which a storage tray is rotatably held and rotates about its axis;
When the holding table rotates and comes closest to the supply belt conveyor, the holding table becomes horizontal, and the holding table on the opposite side is provided along the outer periphery of the rotating shaft so as to be inclined most at a predetermined angle. Inclined cam rails;
A cam follower that slides on one end of the support lever on the inclined cam rail;
When the product is transferred to all the pockets of the product storage tray by the product transfer mechanism, a tray full signal transmitted from the control unit is received, and the central rotating shaft is rotated 180 degrees to tilt the tray. A control unit comprising at least a holding table exchange and in-pocket product alignment means;
Tray holding exchange and pocket alignment mechanism,
A tray loading pallet capable of loading a plurality of the product storage trays;
A tray gripping arm provided at two opposite corners of the tray for rotating the gripping rotary plate by an electronically controlled air cylinder to grip the tray in order to replace the product-full tray of the holding table with an empty tray; ;
A tray arm moving mechanism supported by a rotating shaft for moving and rotating the arm and moving to a predetermined position by electronic control;
The tray holding exchange / replacement end signal of the holding table by the in-pocket alignment mechanism is received, and a full tray is stacked on an empty tray loading pallet previously set at the first predetermined position, and an empty tray without a product A control unit comprising at least tray loading means for gripping a single empty tray with a tray gripping arm from an empty tray stacking pallet previously installed at a second predetermined position and transferring it to an empty holding table;
At least a tray transfer mechanism.

Also, because the product storage tray and the tray loading pallet loaded with the tray are temporarily stocked outside the line system, a unique serial number is assigned to each warehouse coordinate position assigned to the tray loading pallet. An automatic warehouse that manages the delivery and receipt of goods by electronic control;
Two sets of horizontal moving roller conveyors for moving the tray loading pallet from the entrance / exit of the automatic warehouse to a plurality of predetermined positions or moving the tray loading pallet from the plurality of predetermined positions to the entrance / exit, and a horizontal moving roller provided at the end of the conveyor Pallet transfer mechanism with air cylinder that moves between conveyors;
When the full tray is stacked on the tray loading pallet at the first predetermined position to reach Q sheets, and the tray loading pallet at the second predetermined position has no empty tray, the control unit of the tray transfer mechanism unit designates pallet transfer. Sending a signal, receiving the signal, and transferring the product full tray at the first predetermined position to the entrance of an automatic warehouse by the horizontal moving roller conveyor;
Product tray stock means for stocking to a predetermined coordinate position;
The pallet at the second predetermined position is moved to the first predetermined position by the horizontally moving roller conveyor and the pallet transfer mechanism, and the tray loaded pallet with Q empty trays stacked from the automatic warehouse is transferred to the entrance / exit, and the pallet transfer mechanism and An empty tray replenishing means for shifting to a second predetermined position by a horizontally moving roller conveyor;
A pallet warehouse storage mechanism is provided.

  According to the present invention, even if a failure occurs suddenly in the downstream line of the production line, the failure is automatically detected and a stop signal is transmitted, or the stop button is pressed when it is desired to stop the downstream line. A stock signal that temporarily holds the product flowing from the upstream side out of the line system and a return work can be automatically performed without stopping the upstream line by pressing and sending a stop signal. it can.

  For this reason, it does not reduce the overall operation rate, eliminates the labor required for manual removal, container stacking, transfer work to the warehouse, etc.Furthermore, stress on the product, dust during storage period, contamination with foreign matter, etc. Can be prevented.

  In addition, if an automatic warehouse is used for stock, it is possible to further reduce labor and work, speed up discharge and supply, reduce storage volume, and individually identify manufacturing date and time such as stored product lots. .

  The best embodiment of the automatic outside discharge / supply conveyance system 100 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of an automatic outside discharge / supply conveyance system 100 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100a denotes an arrangement range of the automatic out-of-system discharge / supply conveyance system 100 and a common frame on which mechanisms necessary for the system are arranged.

  On the left side of the common platform 100a is an upstream belt conveyor 110 through which the product 1 manufactured in the upstream product manufacturing process flows. On the right side, there is a downstream belt conveyor 120 that causes the product 1 to flow out to a downstream packing line that performs a process of attaching and packing attached documents, information sheets (cards) and the like to the product 1 and inserting / packing them into the cartoner.

  The discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10 is disposed between the upstream belt conveyor 110 and the downstream belt conveyor 120. Here, 11 is a normal supply belt conveyor that flows the row of products 1 from the upstream belt conveyor 110 to the downstream belt conveyor 120 when the downstream packing line is operating without any obstacles.

  If a failure occurs in the downstream packing line and the downstream belt conveyor 120 automatically stops or a failure signal is generated by pressing the forced stop button, the supply belt conveyor 11 becomes the product alignment belt conveyor 11. That is, the control unit 10a of the discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10 receives the failure signal and causes the stopper plate to project as follows to align the products 1. When the alignment is completed, an end signal is immediately transmitted to the product transfer mechanism 20 described later.

  The details will be described later in the description of FIG. 2, but the stopper plates 11-1, 11-2 to 11 -P are projected from the bottom of the product alignment belt conveyor 11 and stopped with respect to the flow of the product 1. The P stopper plates 11-P are installed with a predetermined pitch length L in advance.

  The predetermined pitch length L matches the arrangement pitch of the rows of pockets 23 of the tray 21 (see FIG. 4) for storing the products so that the products are efficiently transferred.

  When the products n (n = <p) are aligned, the control unit 20a of the product transfer mechanism 20 receives the end signal, operates the product transfer mechanism 20, and starts the transfer operation. The operation range of the product transfer mechanism 20 indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 1 is the rotational movement range of the arm 22 around the central axis 20z.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the product 1 is stopped by the stopper plate 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, and 11-4 by the discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10, and aligned at a predetermined pitch length L. These four products are sucked and moved by the arm 22 having four sets of suction ports 22a, transferred to the tray 21 (see FIG. 4) in 5 rows and 4 columns, and this is repeated 5 times. The example which transfers the product 1 to 5 rows of pocket columns of the tray 21 is shown.

  The tray 21 on which the product 1 is taken out from the product alignment belt conveyor 11 by the product transfer mechanism 20 and transferred is previously mounted on the tray holding bases 31 and 32 of the tray holding exchange / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30.

  The tray holding exchange / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30 has the first tray holding base 31 and the second tray holding base 32 supported by support levers 31a and 32a at the target positions with respect to the central axis 30z, respectively. When the product 1 taken out from the product alignment belt conveyor 11 fills the tray 21, the control unit 20a of the product transfer mechanism 20 transmits the tray full signal to control the tray holding / exchange / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30. The unit 30a receives the signal, rotates the central shaft 30z, and replaces the first and second tray holders, and the control unit 30a transmits the replacement rotation signal to the tray transfer mechanism 40 described later. .

  Since the empty tray 21 in which the product 1 is not placed is mounted on the tray holding base 32 in advance, the position is exchanged by rotating with the tray holding base 31 having the tray 21 filled with the product. Immediately, it is set at a predetermined position for product loading. Details of the tray holding / exchange / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Next, the tray transfer mechanism 40 moves the stacked trays 21 to the pallet 41 and stacks them, while transferring the empty tray 21 to the holding table 32 from which the trays 21 have been removed.

The control unit 40a of the tray transfer mechanism 40 receives the exchange rotation signal from the control unit 30a, sets an empty pallet 41 on which the tray 21 is not stacked at a predetermined first predetermined position, An empty tray pallet 41 in which a plurality of Q trays of empty trays 21 in which no product is put is placed in a predetermined position 2 is set, and each time the exchange rotation signal is received, the full tray 21 is moved to the first position. A command to stack the pallet 41 at a predetermined position is output to the tray transfer mechanism 40,
In response to the command, the tray transfer mechanism 40 moves the product-filled tray 21 to the pallet 41 at the first predetermined position by the articulated arm 45 that rotates about the central axis 40z and stacks it.

  Subsequently, the tray transfer mechanism 40 grips one empty tray 21 from the pallet 41 on which empty trays at the second predetermined position are loaded, and places them on the empty tray holding base 31 or 32. In addition, the operation range of the tray transfer mechanism 40 shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1 is a rotational movement range around the central axis 40z.

  When the operation of the tray transfer mechanism 40 is repeated Q times, Q full trays 21 are stacked on the pallet 41 at the first predetermined position, and the loading capacity of the pallet 21 is lost, while at the second predetermined position. The pallet 41 is in a state where there are no Q empty trays 21. The control unit 40a transmits a signal indicating that the Q sheets have been processed and transmits the signal to the pallet warehouse storage mechanism 50.

  The pallet warehouse storage mechanism 50 includes an automatic warehouse 51, two horizontal movement roller conveyors 52a and 52b, and one horizontal movement roller conveyor to another horizontal movement roller by an air cylinder 53a at the end of the horizontal movement roller conveyor 52. It comprises a pallet transfer mechanism 53 between roller conveyors to be transferred to the conveyor.

  Since the automatic warehouse 51 temporarily manages products stored outside the line system, a unique serial number is assigned to each of the pallets 41 loaded with the empty tray 21 and the tray 21 storing the products, and assigned to the pallet. Each warehouse is managed by electronic control by computer based on memory file of related table of warehouse coordinate position.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the pallet transfer mechanism 53 moves the pallet 41 to a predetermined position in the direction of the arrow (clockwise direction) according to a command from the control unit 40a. In response to the command, the pallet 41 is referred to the memory file, and the pallet 41 is moved from the entrance / exit 51a to the coordinate position where the pallet 41 is entered, or is moved from the coordinate position where the pallet is taken out to the entrance / exit 51a.

  The pallet 41 delivered to the entrance / exit 51a is moved along the arrow, and the pallet 41 desired to enter is also moved in the direction of the arrow and carried to the entrance / exit 51a. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the moving direction of the pallet 41.

  The first predetermined position is at the right end of the first horizontal movement roller conveyor 52a, and the second predetermined position is at the center of the second horizontal movement roller conveyor 52b.

  The first predetermined position is a position where the pallet 41 to be loaded is placed by taking out the full tray 21 from the holding table 31 (or 32) of the tray holding exchange / alignment mechanism 30 by the arm 43 of the tray transfer mechanism 40. is there.

  The second predetermined position is a replenishment pallet 41 loaded with empty trays 21 for replenishing the holding base 31 (or 32) of the tray holding / exchange / pocket alignment mechanism 30 from which the full trays 21 have been taken out. It is a position to arrange. The first and second predetermined positions are both within the operation range circle of the tray transfer mechanism 40. (Refer to the circle showing the operating range of the tray transfer mechanism 40 in FIG. 1)

  If the above operation is performed Q times and Q trays 21 are stacked on the pallet 41 at the first predetermined position and the tray 21 at the second predetermined position is not taken out, the horizontal control is performed according to a command from the automatic control unit 40a. The moving roller conveyor 52 and the pallet moving mechanism 53 between the roller conveyors move each pallet 41 in the direction of the arrow (clockwise direction) as shown in FIG.

  Eventually, the pallet 41 loaded with Q trays 21 full of products in the first predetermined position is horizontally moved into the automatic warehouse 51 and all empty trays in the second predetermined position are taken out. The pallet 41 is moved by the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52 and the pallet moving mechanism 53 between the roller conveyors, is carried to the first predetermined position, and is stopped. Further, a command is issued to move the pallet 41 with Q empty trays stacked from the automatic warehouse 51 to the second predetermined position.

  The first roller conveyor 52a and the second roller conveyor 52b will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 52c shows the rollers of the first and second roller conveyors 52a and 52b. The roller 52c is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. However, at the entrance / exit 51a of the automatic warehouse, it is driven to rotate in either direction by a command depending on the direction of entry / exit.

  The pallet moving mechanisms 53 between the roller conveyors are respectively disposed at both ends of the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52, 53a indicates an air cylinder, and when the pallet 41 is moved to a predetermined position by a command of the control unit 50a, an air cylinder is necessary. 53a is driven by air, and the pallet 41 on the inter-roller pallet moving mechanism 53 is moved to the adjacent roller conveyor. The driving of the pallet moving mechanism 53 between the roller conveyors is not limited to air, and an electric slide mechanism for more accurate positioning may be provided.

  Hereinafter, each mechanism described above will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. 2A and 2B show the structure of the discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10, wherein FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG. 2B is a front view.

  This figure shows a case where four products 1 are aligned with a predetermined pitch length L. The product 1 flows from the upstream belt conveyor 110 at an interval sufficiently longer than the pitch length L, but if it is automatically stopped due to a failure in the downstream packing line process, or if it is forcibly stopped, the downstream side The control unit 10a of the discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10 receives a conveyor stop signal from the control unit of the belt conveyor 120. First, the first stopper plate 11-1 in the front row in the flow direction of FIG. The product 1 is stopped by projecting from the lower side of the product conveyor belt conveyor 11. That is, when receiving the signal, the control unit 10a first sends a signal to the input terminal 11a of the stopper plate 11-1, and drives the vertical movement mechanism 11b with the electronic control signal to cause the stopper plate 11-1 to protrude upward.

  In the supply belt conveyor 11 for aligning the products 1, two light emitting portions 11P and a light receiving portion 11Q are provided on both sides of the position where the products 1 are stopped as shown in FIG. The control unit 10a that has transmitted a signal for causing -1 to protrude upward immediately receives the two light reception signals of the light receiving unit 11Q immediately after the stopper plate 11-1. If the output of the upstream light receiving section 11Q is 0 and there is a downstream light receiving section output, the product 1 is regarded as having reached the first stopper plate 11-1, and a signal that immediately protrudes from the second stopper plate 11-2. Send.

  Similarly, the output of the light receiving unit 11Q immediately after the stopper plate 11-2 is received, and the process is repeated thereafter to eventually align the four products at a predetermined pitch L.

  FIG. 3 is a side view showing the structure of the tray holding / exchange / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30. The central axis 30z of the tray holding / exchange / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30 is fixed to the support base 30y, and is driven by the motor 33c via the power transmission unit 33b.

  A cylindrical inclined rail cam 33a is screwed and fixed to the support base 30y along the outer periphery of the central axis 30z.

  The inclined rail cam 33a has the highest left side and the lowest right side. On the left side is a first tray holding base 31 that is supported horizontally, on which a tray 21 (horizontal) is mounted. Reference numeral 31a denotes a support lever, and the lower end of the support lever 31a is connected to a cam follower 31b which can move up and down in an axial longitudinal groove via a connecting member. For this reason, the cam follower 31b is pressed downward on the rail cam 33a inclined by the biasing spring 31d. In this state, the height of the inclined rail cam 33a is set so that the first tray holding base 31 is horizontal.

  On the right side, there is a second tray holding base 32 supported in an inclined manner, on which a tray 21 (inclined) is mounted. The lower end of the support lever 32a is connected to an up and down cam follower 32b through an axial longitudinal groove via a connecting member. The cam follower 32b is pressed downward on the inclined rail cam 33a by an urging spring 32d. As described above, since the right inclined cam rail 33a has the lowest height, the second tray holding base 32 in this state is inclined. In this embodiment, the inclination angle is 30 degrees with respect to the horizontal.

  Therefore, when the tray 21 mounted on the first tray holding base 31 is filled with products (for example, 20 in the case of 5 rows and 4 columns), the control unit 30a rotates the rotary shaft 30z. When the first tray holding base 31 on which the full tray 21 is placed comes to the opposite side, the tilted rail cam 33a tilts, and therefore the tray 21 mounted on the tilted tray 21 tilts. The products 1 in the pockets 23 one by one are brought to the lower side of the long side of the pockets 23 and aligned.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the structure of the tray 21 provided with pockets of 5 rows and 4 columns. The product 1 which is not aligned is specifically shown in one of the pockets 23 of the tray 21 shown in FIG. 4, but the tray holding base 31 is inclined and moved toward the lower side of the pocket 23. Align.

  As described above, by aligning with one in the pocket 23, the product 1 is temporarily taken out when the failure is recovered, and the product 1 is taken out from the pocket 23 of the tray 21 and returned to the downstream packing line. When returning to the conveyor 11, it is possible to eliminate an irregular arrangement in which the suction port 22 cannot be completely applied to the upper surface of the product 1.

  The tray shown in FIG. 4 is an example in which pockets are arranged in 5 rows and 4 columns. The product transfer operation by the arm 22 of the product transfer mechanism 20 can be efficiently performed by adjusting the pitch length of the four rows of pocket arrays to L.

  FIG. 7 is a front view showing the structure of the arm 22 of the product transfer mechanism 20. This embodiment shows four sets of arms 22 with air suction ports. In the figure, reference numeral 25 denotes an articulated arm connecting portion, and 22a denotes a suction port.

  The suction port 22a sucks up one product 1 in pairs. Reference numeral 22b denotes a vertical movement mechanism of the suction port 22a, which sucks and transfers the products 1 aligned from the product alignment belt conveyor 11 to the tray 21. On the other hand, the gripping mechanism 23b takes out the product 1 from the tray 21 and picks it up from both side surfaces of the product 1 when the product 1 is transferred to the supply belt conveyor 11. A product chuck plate claw insertion portion 23a is provided in the pocket 23 of the tray 21 for the gripping mechanism 23b. In this way, by taking out from the tray 21 with the gripping mechanism 23b, the product can be reliably taken out even if the band of the product being stored is loose or close to one side of the tray.

  FIG. 5 is a side view showing the structure of the tray transfer mechanism 40. In the figure, reference numeral 100a indicates a common frame of the present system, and 42 indicates an installation frame of the tray transfer mechanism 40. The installation base 42 is installed across the first roller conveyor 52a. 52b denotes a second roller conveyor, and 30 denotes the tray holding / replacement / in-pocket alignment mechanism.

  Reference numeral 40z denotes a central axis of the tray transfer mechanism 40 provided on the installation base 42, and a pair of articulated arms 43 is provided on the central axis 40z. A tray attaching / detaching mechanism 44 is attached to the tip of the articulated arm 43. The movement range of the articulated arm 43 is indicated by a chain line circle.

  6A and 6B are views showing the structure of the tray attaching / detaching / holding mechanism 44, where FIG. 6A is a front view and FIG. 6B is a plan view. In FIG. 6A, a central upper portion 45 is an articulated arm connecting portion, and a tray attaching / detaching / gripping mechanism 44 is configured with the articulated arm connecting portion 45 as a central axis.

  At both ends of the rectangular plate of the upper arm 43 of the tray attaching / detaching / holding mechanism 44, an electronic control cylinder 44c, a claw swinging mechanism 44a that rotates and swings by its horizontal movement, and a tray 21 that rotates and swings, respectively. And a claw 44b for supporting the side surface.

  FIG. 6B shows a state in which the tray 21 is gripped. The tray attaching / detaching / holding mechanism 44 moves to the upper part of the tray 21, and the claw swinging mechanism 44a, the claw member 44b, and the electronic control cylinder 44c are moved to the left and right ends. Is shown.

  Reference numeral 46 denotes a tray corner gripping mechanism that grips the two corners of the tray 21 facing each other. The tray corner gripping mechanism 46 also has air cylinders at both ends, and the cylinders are pressed against the corner corners of the tray 21 from both directions.

  As described above, when the tray 21 is transferred, the tray transfer mechanism 40 is prevented from swinging or unstable, and the pallet is placed in the recesses at the four corners of the tray 21. The tray 21 is easily inserted into a tray loading positioning bar 41a (see FIG. 8) provided on the tray 41 so that the tray 21 is guided and stacked.

  Next, the operation of the automatic outside discharge / supply conveyance system 100 will be described.

  For the sake of clarity, the pallet on which no tray is loaded is an empty pallet A, the pallet on which a plurality of empty trays are loaded is the tray loaded pallet B, the tray holding / replacement / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30 and its control unit 30a. The tray replacement robot C, the discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10 and its control unit 10a are combined to form a stopper mechanism D, the product transfer mechanism 20 and its control unit 20a are combined, and the product transfer robot E, the tray transfer mechanism 40 and its control. The unit 40a will be described together with the tray transfer robot F and a reference numeral.

  First, in order to enter an abnormal standby state, the following preparations are made and the system waits.

  (1) A pallet (empty pallet A) on which the tray 21 is not loaded is delivered from the automatic warehouse 51 and lowered by an elevator.

  (2) A is moved by the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52 and the inter-roller pallet moving mechanism 53 to the first predetermined position which is the loading position of the product loading tray.

  (3) Next, the pallet 41 (tray pallet B) loaded with a plurality of empty trays 21 is delivered and lowered by an elevator.

  (4) B is moved by the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52 and the inter-roller pallet moving mechanism 53 to the second predetermined position which is the stacking position of the tray.

  (5) The tray transfer robot F transfers the empty tray 21 from B to the tray holding base 32 (C2 position) of the tray replacement robot C and places it thereon.

  (6) The tray replacement robot C rotates to place the tray holding base 32 at a predetermined horizontal position C1 on which the product is placed. The tray holding table 31 on which one tray is not placed turns to the front C2.

(7) The tray transfer robot F transfers and places an empty tray from B onto the tray holding base 31 (C2 position) of the tray replacement robot C.
The holding bases 31 and 32 are moved to positions C1 and C2 reversed 180 degrees by the rotation of the tray replacement robot C. It will be in a standby state by the above operation | work.

  (8) When an abnormality signal that is a command for starting an abnormality in the final packing line and starting the discharge system is received, the stopper mechanism D of the product alignment belt conveyor 11 starts operating.

  (9) The stopper mechanism D detects the product 1 flowing, pushes up the stopper plates 11-1 to 11-P from the bottom of the product alignment belt conveyor 11, and makes a plurality of products 1 at regular intervals (3-4 Pieces).

  (10) In response to the alignment signal from the stopper mechanism D, the product transfer robot E grips a plurality of aligned products 1 and transfers them to the storage pocket 23 of the tray 21. At this time, the product transfer robot E moves by determining how many rows and rows of trays are placed.

  (11) When the pocket 23 of the tray 21 is full, the tray replacement robot C rotates and tilts the tray 21 packed with the product 1 to align it with one corner of the pocket 23, so that one empty tray 21 The holding table 31 is set at a predetermined horizontal position C1.

  (12) The tray transfer robot F grasps the tray 21 full of products 1 from the holding base 32 at the C2 position and transfers it to the first predetermined position by a signal from the tray replacement robot C. And load it on the empty pallet A.

  (13) Next, the tray transfer robot F grips the empty tray 21 from the second predetermined position where the pallet on which the empty tray 21 is stacked, and moves to the holding base 32 where the position of C2 is empty. Included. Repeat (9) to (13).

  (14) When a predetermined number of trays 21 full of products are stacked on the empty pallet A placed at the first predetermined position, the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52 sends the pallet 41 to the automatic warehouse entrance / exit 51a, The elevator goes into the automatic warehouse 51.

  (15) At the same time, the pallet 41 placed at the second predetermined position where all empty trays are used and emptied is moved to the first predetermined position by the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52 and the inter-roller pallet moving mechanism 53. Move with.

  (16) Next, the pallet 41 (tray pallet B) loaded with a plurality of empty trays 21 is delivered and lowered by an elevator.

  (17) B is moved to the second predetermined position, which is the tray loading position, by the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52 and the inter-roller pallet moving mechanism 53.

  (18) Here, the stopper mechanism D detects the presence / absence of a signal to cancel the discharge, and if there is no signal, returns to (9) and continues the discharge operation. If there is a signal for stopping the discharge, the operation of the stopper mechanism D and the tray transfer robot F is stopped.

  Next, the flow of operation for supplying the product 1 stocked in the automatic warehouse 51 to the downstream packing line when the upstream manufacturing process is stopped, so-called supply of the discharged product will be described.

  (19) The pallet (empty pallet A) on which the tray 21 is not loaded is delivered from the automatic warehouse 51 and lowered by an elevator. Subsequently, A is moved to the first predetermined position by the horizontal moving roller conveyor 52 and the inter-roller pallet moving mechanism 53. (Same operation as (1) and (2))

  (20) The pallet 41 loaded with the tray 21 full of products 1 is taken out from the automatic warehouse 51 and lowered by an elevator.

  (21) The pallet 41 is moved to the second predetermined position by the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52 and the inter-roller conveyor pallet moving mechanism 53.

  (22) Next, the tray transfer robot F grips the tray 21 full of products from the pallet 41 at the second predetermined position, and transfers it to the vacated holding table 32 (C2 position). Put.

  (23) Upon receipt of the signal from the tray transfer robot F, the tray replacement robot C rotates, and the tray holder 32 is placed at a predetermined horizontal position C1. The tray holding base 31 on which one empty tray is placed turns to the front C2.

  (24) The product transfer robot E sucks and holds the products 1 one by one from the tray 21 located at the position C1 where the products 1 are loaded, and transfers them to the supply belt conveyor 11 to supply them.

  (25) On the other hand, during the operation (24), the tray transfer robot F transfers and loads the empty tray 21 from the tray holding base 31 (C2 position) to the pallet 41 at the first predetermined position. .

  (26) Next, the tray transfer robot F grips the tray 21 full of products from the pallet 41 at the second predetermined position, and transfers it to the vacant holding base 31 (C2 position). Keep it.

  (27) The tray replacement robot C is rotated by the completion signal of the work in (24), and the tray holding table full of the products 1 is arranged at the predetermined position C1.

  (28) The above operation is repeated from (22), and if there is no product-filled tray 21 at the second predetermined position, the pallet 41 loaded with empty trays 21 stacked at the first predetermined position. Is transferred to the automatic warehouse 51 by the horizontal transfer roller conveyor 52, and the pallet at the second predetermined position which has become empty is moved to the first predetermined position.

  (29) Similarly to (20), the pallet 41 loaded with the tray 21 full of the products 1 is taken out from the automatic warehouse 51 and lowered by the elevator.

  (30) The pallet 41 is moved to the second predetermined position by the horizontally moving roller conveyor 52 and the inter-roller pallet moving mechanism 53. The operation from (22) is repeated.

  The above operation is continued until the control unit in the automatic warehouse 51 sends a signal indicating that the pallet 41 loaded with the product 1 has been lost.

  In the present invention, the discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10 and the product transfer mechanism 20 are used to align the products on the supply belt conveyor 11 and transfer them to the product storage tray 21. These functions can be replaced by using an image recognition-compatible robot that recognizes an image of a flowing product with a camera, grips the recognized product, and transfers the product to the product storage tray 21.

It is a top view which shows the structure of the automatic outside discharge | emission and supply conveyance system 100 of this invention. The structure of the discharge product alignment stopper mechanism 10 is shown, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a front view. 4 is a side view showing the structure of the tray holding / exchange / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30. FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the tray which provided the pocket of 5 rows 4 columns. 4 is a side view showing the structure of a tray transfer mechanism 40. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the tray attachment / detachment / holding mechanism 44, (a) is a front view, (b) is a top view. 3 is a front view showing a structure of an arm 22 of a product transfer mechanism 20. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a pallet. It is a figure explaining the moving direction of the pallet 41. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Product 10 Discharged product alignment stopper mechanism 10a Control part 11b Vertical movement mechanism 11 Supply belt conveyor (product alignment belt conveyor)
11-1 to 11-P Stopper plate 11a Stop signal receiving terminal 11m Motor 11n Conveyor drive mechanism 11p Light emitting unit 11q Light receiving unit 20 Product transfer mechanism 20a Control unit 20z Central shaft 20y Air supply port 21 Product storage tray (tray)
22 Arm with air suction port: (n set)
22a Suction port 22b Air port moving mechanism 23 Pocket 23b Air gripping mechanism 23a Product chuck plate claw insertion unit 25 Articulated arm connection unit 30 Tray holding / replacement / in-pocket alignment mechanism 30a Control unit 30y Support base 30z Central shaft 31 First tray Holding table 31a Support lever 31b Lower cam 31c Tray support bar 31d Spring 32 Second tray holding table 32a Support lever 32b Lower cam 32c Tray support bar 32d Spring 33 Rotating shaft 33a Inclined rail cam: (Cam along the outer periphery of rotating shaft)
33b Power transmission unit (transmitter)
33c Motor 40 Tray transfer mechanism 40a Control unit 40y Air supply port 40z Center shaft 41 Tray loading pallet (pallet)
41a Tray stacking positioning rod 41b Substrate 42 Installation stand 43 Tray gripping arm
44 Tray attaching / detaching / holding mechanism 44a Claw swing mechanism 44b Claw member 44c Electronic control cylinder 50 Pallet warehouse storage mechanism 50a Control unit 51 Automatic warehouse 51a Entrance / exit 52 Horizontally moving roller conveyor 52a First roller conveyor 52b Second roller conveyor 52c Roller 53 Roller conveyor pallet moving mechanism 53a Air cylinder 100 Automatic outside discharge / supply conveyance system 100a Common frame 110 Upstream belt conveyor 120 Downstream belt conveyor

Claims (2)

When a banded product with multiple PTP sheets bundled or a pillow packaged product is placed on the supply belt conveyor and sent to the downstream packing line, if the packing line is faulty and stopped or is stopped In this case, without stopping the upstream process line, the product on the supply belt conveyor that is sent is automatically discharged outside the line system, and temporarily stocked outside the line system. An automatic out-of-system discharge / supply transport system that returns the product to the supply belt conveyor and supplies the product to the downstream packing line,
In order to align a plurality of P product rows being conveyed on the supply belt conveyor with a predetermined pitch length, it is arranged from the conveyor end with the pitch length that can be moved up and down by an electronic control signal from the lower side of the belt conveyor. P stopper plates and control signal input terminals;
A first product that receives a signal from a stop detection sensor or a stop button signal of the downstream packing line, sends an ON signal to the input terminal of the first stopper plate close to the end of the belt conveyor, and causes the first stopper plate to protrude. An ON signal is sequentially sent from the second stopper plate to the Pth stopper plate at the timing of each detection sensor so that one product is inserted between the stop means and each stopper plate, and protrudes to the Pth stopper plate. A control unit comprising at least P product stop means;
A discharge product alignment stopper mechanism comprising:
A product storage tray for storing products to be discharged from the supply belt conveyor in m rows and n columns, the column interval pitch being the same as the predetermined pitch length, and providing mxn product storage pockets;
N sets of air suction ports for simultaneously drawing out a plurality of n (n = <P) aligned products by air suction and a discharge arm provided with a gripping mechanism;
A discharge arm moving mechanism that is supported by a rotating shaft that moves and rotates the discharge arm and moves to a predetermined position by electronic control;
N products are simultaneously sucked into n sets of air suction ports of the discharge arm, taken out from the conveyor, and the arms are moved to the n storage pockets in the first row of the product storage tray by the moving mechanism. A control unit including at least pocket storing means for storing m × n pieces of means for dropping and inserting the product m times up to the m-th row;
A product transfer mechanism comprising:
A center rotation shaft, two support levers that slide up and down at one end of a groove formed along the axial direction, and the product at the other end of the support lever. First and second holding platforms in which a storage tray is rotatably held and rotates about its axis;
When the holding table rotates and comes closest to the supply belt conveyor, the holding table becomes horizontal, and the holding table on the opposite side is provided along the outer periphery of the rotating shaft so as to be inclined most at a predetermined angle. Inclined cam rails;
A cam follower that slides on one end of the support lever on the inclined cam rail;
When the product is transferred to all the pockets of the product storage tray by the product transfer mechanism, a tray full signal transmitted from the control unit is received, and the central rotating shaft is rotated 180 degrees to tilt the tray. A control unit comprising at least a holding table exchange and in-pocket product alignment means;
Tray holding exchange and pocket alignment mechanism,
A tray loading pallet capable of loading a plurality of the product storage trays;
A tray gripping arm provided at two opposite corners of the tray for exchanging the product-full tray of the holding table with the tray, and gripping the tray by rotating a gripping rotating plate by an electronically controlled air cylinder; ;
A tray arm moving mechanism supported by a rotating shaft for moving and rotating the arm and moving to a predetermined position by electronic control;
The tray holding exchange / replacement end signal of the holding table by the in-pocket alignment mechanism is received, and a full tray is stacked on an empty tray loading pallet previously installed at the first predetermined position, and an empty tray without products. A control unit including at least tray loading means for gripping a single empty tray with a tray gripping arm from an empty tray stacking pallet previously set at a second predetermined position and transferring it to an empty holding table;
And a tray transfer mechanism comprising: an automatic out-of-system discharge / supply conveyance system. Since the product storage tray and the tray loading pallet loaded with the tray are temporarily stocked outside the line system, a unique serial number is assigned to each of the tray loading pallets, and electronic control is performed at the warehouse coordinate position assigned to the tray loading pallet. An automatic warehouse that manages the delivery and receipt of goods by
Two sets of horizontal moving roller conveyors for moving the tray loading pallet from the entrance / exit of the automatic warehouse to a plurality of predetermined positions or moving the tray loading pallet from the plurality of predetermined positions to the entrance / exit, and a horizontal moving roller provided at the end of the conveyor Pallet transfer mechanism with air cylinder that moves between conveyors;
When the full tray is stacked on the tray loading pallet at the first predetermined position to reach Q sheets, and the tray loading pallet at the second predetermined position has no empty tray, the control unit of the tray transfer mechanism unit designates pallet transfer. Sending a signal, receiving the signal, and transferring the product full tray at the first predetermined position to the entrance of an automatic warehouse by the horizontal moving roller conveyor;
Product tray stock means for stocking to a predetermined coordinate position;
The pallet at the second predetermined position is moved to the first predetermined position by the horizontally moving roller conveyor and the pallet transfer mechanism, and the tray loaded pallet with Q empty trays stacked from the automatic warehouse is transferred to the entrance / exit, and the pallet transfer mechanism and An empty tray replenishing means for shifting to a second predetermined position by a horizontally moving roller conveyor;
An automatic discharge / supply conveyance system comprising a pallet warehouse storage mechanism comprising:

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